Weird Dreams Also Come True
by Yuli Himura
Summary: What would you think if I said that weird dreams also come true?" - the story of a girl's strange dreams and their relation with reality... or are they both real? [AU, Dream]
1. Strange Dream

Chapter 1: A Strange Dream

_"Have you ever had one of those dreams that seem just too real, and then you wake up feeling this emptiness inside you?"_

"...it seemed like outer space, I could see lots of stars all around the metallic platform. There were some buildings and a metallic bridge but all the lights were off, so I tried wandering a little, I came closer to one of the towers, I felt so cold there, I heard someone breathing, but couldn't see anyone, ignoring my fear I searched around and suddenly all of this illusions came to my head, there were lots of people on fire, and a big explosion at the back..." – the girl made a pause as if to remember something –"...and there was this black-haired man walking among them when..."

"Time to sleep girls, don't let these stories fool you" – the young woman stated.

* * *

[Maron Aikawa]

-27 years old

-Black hair, light brown eyes, likes children

-Doctor in charge of the orphanage

* * *

"C'mon! Just a little longer Miss Aikawa" – a six year old girl pleaded.

"That's enough for today Allison, we'll continue tomorrow" – one of the 'big sisters' said.

* * *

[Sakura Kinomoto]

-16 years old

-Brown hair, green eyes, likes fairy tales

-Her mother died giving birth to her, her father died in a car accident four years later. His older brother's whereabouts are unknown

* * *

The group of four little girls then agreed to go to bed. All of them were between 5 and 7 years old, that's why they called Sakura and the other girl big sisters, as Miss Aikawa said, they were all a family. Now they were all alone in their room.

"You _do_ know that tomorrow Allison's new parents will come to pick her up right?" – she asked as her amethyst-like eyes looked through the window.

Sakura closed the door, they had a room for themselves, the other girls slept downstairs, the whole room was decorated in pink, they had twin beds as the room wasn't big enough to have singles. The green eyed girl slept in the lower one. She arrived at the orphanage almost as the same time as her roommate and best friend.

"Yes I know" – she finally answered as she pulled off the sheets –"I'll miss her, won't you?"

"I'm kinda used to it, they come and go everyday" –she climbed the stairs and introduced herself in the cold bed –"Good night"

"Sleep tight" –was all she got as a reply.

Sakura soon fell into a deep sleep, as deep as she could in a cold room in the middle of the winter. The other girl just couldn't, the idea of loosing another one of her little sisters made her so sad that she had been crying since she noticed her best friend asleep. But her cry was unnoticed, as it was as silent as the wind. No one ever notices when this girl cries, no one ever notices when she gets mad.

She wiped away the tears with the back of one hand and looking for something under her pillow with the other. It was a pocket watch, she found it two days ago when she woke up in the middle of the night after a very strange dream, the same one she was telling to Allison and the rest. The strange part of the watch is that instead of numbers it has letters, and has only one hand.

"See you everyone!! I'll miss you, but mom and dad promised to bring me to play sometime!!" –little Allison waved everyone good-bye as her new mom let her into their car, to go to their home, where she'd be part of a normal family...

"That was a nice good-bye party" –the raven haired girl exclaimed as she stood up from the couch she and Sakura were sitting – "I had so much fun" – she smiled and her friend smiled back.

"Big sis!" –Mimi cried –"You dropped this" – the little girl handed her a necklace with a small crystal moon.

"Thank you so much Mimi, this is very precious to me, how would you like to draw for a while?"

"I'd love that!!"

"Wanna come?" –the little girls were fighting to grab her hands, they were three and she had only two.


	2. Let me Show you

Chapter 2: Let me Show you

_"What would you think if I said that weird dreams also come true?"_

"Can't you wait just a little longer" –the black haired girl asked while eating some more of her dinner

"Oh C'mon tell me!" –Sakura asked for the umpteenth time

"We'll have to wait 'till night, when Miss Aikawa is asleep" – an enigmatic smile showed up on her pale face.

She knew that Sakura's curiosity wouldn't let her rest until she knew what was going on, but they'd be in serious trouble if they were discovered.

In the end the emerald eyed girl had to wait, she knew her friend was impossible to convince once she made up her mind, but finally night had arrived and everyone in the house was asleep. Everyone, except two certain girls.

They hadn't their pyjamas on yet. They were still wearing that day's clothes.

"So? What is it?? Are you finally telling me Kek-chan?" – Kek was only her nickname, Sakura didn't even know what does it mean.

"Sheesh, you can't be patient can you? Ok, ok I'll show you, [but don't call me Kek-chan]" – she said the last part really low, maybe Sakura didn't hear her.

The amethyst eyed girl leaned on the lower bed and searched for something under her pillow. A silver pocket watch with a small chain.

"This is it? You wanted to show me an old watch???" –she slapped herself for being so impatient over this... this thing.

Kek-chan, as she was called, even though she didn't like it because it wasn't her name, made the single hand to go round twice, and then secured the chain around her right wrist and held the watch facing the closed bathroom door. A light appeared on it, she grabbed Sakura's arm and ran against the door. The last one, thinking that they'd only crash against the door, closed her eyes tight, but to her surprise, it didn't happen.

"Where are we?" – Sakura asked kinda scared holding the other girl's arm.

The scenario was beautiful, they were standing on a cloud, and the sky was as blue as ever, the sun was warm, and a little farther they could see a city. A city above the clouds. It just seems like a dream.

"Don't be scared Sakura-chan, you can walk on the clouds" – she jumped from one to another, until she was somehow far from her still scared friend –"See? Come here, I'll take you somewhere else" –she seemed to be having fun, as if this was something she always wanted to do, like the time Miss Aikawa and her boyfriend took them to a theme park.

Finally Sakura arrived and they got near the citadel so that they could use the wall to repeat the process. This time, the watch keeper only turned it once backwards. The same happened, the light on the wall and them running against it, now they're somewhere else.

"This... this place... it's kinda familiar..." –her green eyes were analyzing every inch of the scenario.

It was dark, but the light of the many stars that could be seen made it brighter. It seemed like a platform in outer space. A big metallic platform with at least four metallic buildings, three stories each, some metallic flowerpot stands, palms here and there, and a big metallic bridge to the right of everything. It could be compared with a university, a big, metallic one.

"Everything's so..." –the brown haired lass paused.

"Magical? Pretty? Mystical?? Dream-like??" –the other one tried to finish.

"...metallic" – a sweat drop was on Kek's head.

The raven haired girl seemed to know her way around already, she led Sakura under the bridge where a small elevator was, her pale hand pushed a button and soon the elevator arrived, taking them to the only other floor there, something that seemed like a basement or a mall's underground car-parking. And it was also metallic.

And as the car parking it looked like, there was something parked, not exactly a car though, but it had its size.

"Now, what's that Kek-chan?" –she said pointing to the spaceship-thing-like.

"Uhm... a spaceship I guess [don't call me that]"

"We're not gonna ride it right?" –a smile appeared on her friend's face.

"There's somewhere I still haven't gone to yet" –said that, she pushed several buttons and literally dragged Sakura in.

For some reason, anyone going with her would have noticed that she really didn't know how to manoeuvre the spacecraft. A little farther was another platform. This was round and had some lights at its edges.

At this point Sakura was wondering if she was dreaming all of this.

_"Nothing makes sense, it's like a fairy tale, a very weird one by the way, it seems so unreal... I wonder if I went nuts... Maybe those candies made me have bad dreams... Sheesh I'm so confused..."_

When Kek-chan managed to 'park' the spaceship, [or should we call it spacecar?], they jumped off, one of her pale hands made its way to her necklace and softly held the moon. They both walked to the centre, where a purple light was flashing on and off and stood there until they were practically absorbed by the light.

"Where are you taking me Kek-chan? [Is this even real??]"

"I told you not to call me that" –her hand swapped away some dark hair strands that were blocking her sight.

"How should I call you then? [I've always called you that]" – absent-minded Sakura might not even know her best friend's real name...

"Let me see... was it to the right?" – she completely ignored Sakura's last question, and tried to remember the path she took last time so that this time she'd take the other one –"Then we go left" –she could still hear her friend complaining about her not knowing how to call her but she didn't paid any attention as they were now somewhere she hadn't seen before.

The room had nothing in it except water, it was a square-shaped room, really, really big divided in six... maybe eight very big square pools, and in the other side of the room was another door.

"It seems we have to swim" –the lilac eyed girl launched herself to the water and started swimming, but just as she was climbing the first division she had a bad feeling.

_"I must hide it, I must hide it now!!"_

She pressed her necklace against her chest and without warning, a blonde girl fell from the ceiling right to her side, actually from a hole that was there. The girl started to attack her and she tried to fight back, but just wasn't very good at it. All Sakura could do was watch, unlike her friend, she didn't know how to swim. The blonde girl then started to strangle Kek-chan, but just then another girl fell from the same hole and freed the victim from her aggressor strength leaving her unconscious in the water and dragging Kek-chan all the way to where Sakura was.

The amethyst eyed girl began to cough some water before the other 'fallen' girl started yelling at her.

"Where is it?!?!" –her clothes, a chinese-like white and red dress with the ying-yang symbol on her chest, were soaked, as well as her the rest of her.

"Where's what?" –replied the girl still holding her neck, where a pair of hand marks could be seen clearly.

"The crystal piece!!! The one that girl was looking for!!" –her dark hair was tied into two pigtails.

"Don't yell at her!! She was almost strangled in there!!"

_"Meiling come back here, now!"_ –the stranger's radio could be heard. It was a male voice.


	3. Crystal Hunters

Chapter 3: Crystal Hunters

_"Why is it that it feels so real when I'm dreaming? How do you know when you are dreaming and when you are not?"_

"Who are them?" –a brown haired boy asked at the girl when they arrived at the platform with the lights.

* * *

[Syaoran Li]

-17 years old

-Brown hair, maroon eyes

-Crystal hunter

* * *

"I don't know, they were in the pools, Vyper was following them, I think the black haired one has a crystal piece" –she answered pointing at them.

* * *

[Meiling Li]

-15 years old

-Black hair, reddish eyes

-Crystal Hunter

* * *

"A crystal piece? We don't even know what's that!" – the green eyed girl replied.

Then another boy came out from the shadows holding some weird artefact, he looked at Sakura and Kek for a while as if analyzing them and finally asked- "What's your name?" –he pointed at the taller girl.

"I'm Sakura Kinomoto" –she was still wondering if she was dreaming.

The he came closer to the 'unknown girl', he was so close that she felt uncomfortable. He was visibly taller than her. He looked at her as if trying to find something out.

_"She just looks so much like her... Black hair, lilac eyes, pale skin..."_

"You look like someone I met a long time ago. What's your name girl?" –he finally let her some space.

"Kaeli Elizabeth Knott" –she caught a glimpse of disappointment in his eyes for a second.

_"So that was her real name. Now I get why we always called her Kek-chan"_ –Sakura though with a smile.

* * *

[Kaeli Elizabeth Knott]

-14 years old? No one's sure, she looks so small

-Her parents' whereabouts are unknown

-She was named her after a witch that was hung in 1649, in England

* * *

"Anyway, you're too small to be her, she should be sixteen by now... I'm Eriol Hiragizawa" -he stated turning away from Kaeli and the rest.

* * *

[Eriol Hiragizawa]

-17 years old

-Dark blue hair, blue eyes

-Crystal Hunter

* * *

"Now, about the crystal thing, she _does_ have one, but it doesn't seem to be present in a physical way. I didn't know it was possible" –everyone turned to him with a questioning look- "The crystal piece is _inside_ her"

_"Crystal piece?? Could it be...?"_ –Kaeli's hand tried to reach her necklace, the moon wasn't there!

Everyone noticed her expression, worried like someone that looses something very important but very confused at the same time.

"I remember pressing it against my chest seconds before that blonde girl fell down from the hole" –the hand marks where still visible on her neck – "I just felt like I should hide it, but didn't know why or where... I didn't know that this was going to happen..."

The crystal hunters looked kinda confused, not only by the fact that she had managed to make it disappear inside her but also...

"What?! A crystal piece on a necklace?! But how did it end there? Where did you obtain that?" –Meiling was asking one question after the other one.

"Well... I... I don't know... I've had it with me since I remember, maybe even before I got to the orphanage..." –maybe Kaeli was also starting to think she went crazy at some point.

"Orphanage?! You mean you're not hunters or travellers?!" –Syaoran was now really surprised.

"Huh?" –the girls just looked at each other not knowing what to answer.

"How did you get here?" –Eriol asked in a calm but intrigued voice.

Kaeli raised her right hand, revealing the pocket watch under her long sleeved blouse –"I found it on my bed one night after a dream of this place, I though it was pretty weird so I tried making the hand go round, and then a light appeared on the wall and when I tried to touch it, I was taken to another place"

"This can't be..." – Eriol's eyes widened –"This watch is..."

Suddenly they heard fireworks coming from the other platform, and then some music with drums, as if there was a party in the middle of the metallic buildings. The hunters started to run to the bridge, and so did the other two girls. They crossed the bridge and a black haired man received them there. He was al dressed in black.

_"What was about this man that I had to remember... I have a bad feeling..."_

Kaeli's mind was running so fast trying to remember, she became dizzy and began to fall, Sakura's reflects weren't fast enough so she hit the ground almost unconscious.


	4. Bad Dream

Chapter 4: Bad Dream

_"Don't you just hate when you wake up in the morning and suddenly forget what you where dreaming?"_

"We have to get out of here" –she was half unconscious.

"Come on, we are having a party tonight, it is about to start, we were just waiting for you" –the tall dark haired man said inviting them with his hands to come closer. Kaeli was holding her head with both hands mumbling something, and the crystal hunters just looked at her as if she was crazy.

Sakura helped her best friend to stand up, but they were both still confused. The sky, if it can be called that, was still dark, full of stars, like if they were in outer space, but for Kaeli it seemed gloomier than ever. It wasn't a magical place, neither did it looked beautiful anymore. She was scared, and scared to death as she rarely was.

Meiling, the girl with dark hair in buns, started to walk towards the man, and then Syaoran did the same with doubt and Eriol looked back only once before following them. Sakura, still supporting Kaeli, started to walk, and then the smaller girl decided she could walk on her own again, so she did.

Three more kids their age joined them, they introduced themselves to Kaeli and Sakura as Hyosuke Fuwa [17 years old], Kei and Ayaka Hara [both 15, they're twins], and walked along with them, they seemed to know what was going on.

The man started to guide them to the centre of the buildings, but in half-way Kaeli fell to her knees again, no one noticed because she was the last one, the one that had the feeling that they should get out of there immediately. And now she knew why.

It was her dream, the one she had told to her little sisters at the orphanage.

_"...it seemed like outer space, I could see lots of stars all around the metallic platform. There were some buildings and a metallic bridge but all the lights were off, so I tried wandering a little, I came closer to one of the towers, I felt so cold there, I heard someone breathing, but couldn't see anyone, ignoring my fear I searched around and suddenly all of this illusions came to my head, there were lots of people on fire, and a big explosion at the back and there was this black-haired man walking among them when..."_

The same black-haired man!! Still on her knees, her body bent down until her hands were on the cold metallic floor. All those visions she had in her dream, or what she tough was her dream, came back. There was fire everywhere, men trying to extinguish it, girls running, kids crying, a total chaos. Suddenly the fire began to calm down, but it was too late. Everyone was already dead! And the man with black hair and black suit was standing in the centre of the buildings with his face covered by darkness. He had caused the fire and burnt everyone alive with no mercy!!

"Noooooooooooo!!" –everyone turned to Kaeli not expecting what she was going to tell them –"He's going to burn us alive!!"

Instantly all of they looked at the man in black and saw how his face and hands started to go on fire. As if on cue, Eriol and Syaoran looked at each other and started to run back as they were at the head and thus closer to the man. The other crystal hunters caught it and started to run back too, but Sakura and Kaeli were paralyzed, with this last one still on her knees and hands. Ayaka and Kei, who were running on the right side, pulled Sakura's arm and made her turn around while they literally dragged her towards the bridge. Meiling, Hyosuke and Syaoran were almost behind them, but Kaeli was far to the left, and seeing that she wouldn't react, Eriol decided to go for her.

He thought it was going to be difficult to pull her because she was staring at the man with horror, and looking as immobile as an old rock and as heavy as a very big one. But to his surprise he practically lifted her in the air pulling her arm with only one hand. A fraction of second later, the man started to scream maniatically at her, and suddenly all the metallic buildings went on fire causing an explosion.

Kei was the first one to arrive at the elevator, he frantically pressed the down button as his green eyes saw the fire grow bigger and the explosion coming closer by every second. In the last second they all jumped in and the door closed with a loud click. Four or five seconds later they arrived to the basement, were fire was already making its way.

There were no walls on this floor. Only the floor, the ceiling and some pillars. It looked like it was hanging from the upper floor. Sakura and Kaeli arrived on the first floor, there were walls there.

"We can't go back Sakura-chan!!" –the pocket watch was hanging from her right wrist while her left hand was holding the artefact –"There are no walls on this floor"

Then Syaoran, who seemed to be the leader of the group of hunters, looked back at them and practically ordered them to follow him, so they did as told. On the other side of the 'parking lot' were two strange spaceships-things-like. But these were different from the one Kaeli took a while ago to get to the other platform. Both were black, and big, very big, with a large window covering the front and both sides. Strange structures surrounded the vehicles, strange and lethal, the kind of thing you don't want to run into.

Syaoran ordered Hyosuke to take the girls with him and to go to TR-9. Ayaka and Kei were on the Lancelot along with Hyosuke, who was already inside waiting for Kaeli and Sakura to jump in, but just as the latter was hoping in, the girl with pretty lilac eyes realized that her pocket watch was not there, her eyes examined all the way back to the elevator, and there it was, it must have been when she was telling her best friends that they couldn't go back.

As if followed by the devil, she ran all the way back, but the spaceships couldn't wait any longer because the fire was almost on them.

"Go now!!" –Syaoran's voice stated through the communicator installed in the Lancelot. Ayaka pushed some buttons and the door was blocked and sealed. Kei pushed the wheel forward and the Lancelot was out of sight in less than three seconds with a near-tears-Sakura aboard.

Meanwhile Eriol, once again and being the fastest, went to the rescue. Still two metres away from the her watch, Kaeli felt an hand pulling her arm. But to the blue eyed boy surprise she had enough strength to pull him along and grab her silver watch. Then she let herself to be pulled to the Firearm, where Syaoran and Meiling were waiting with the engines at top. As soon as they jumped in and the door closed, a big explosion sent them off, leaving only metallic buildings on fire behind.

"Is this safe? Does he know how to drive this?" –Kaeli had her arms wrapped around Eriol's right one and her eyes closed tight. It was obvious that she wasn't as scared as moments ago, but her body was trembling.

Eriol looked at her, with a strange look on his handsome face. Why in the hell was she holding to his arm??

"No" –he answered sarcastically, only causing her panic for a couple of minutes. But then her expression changed for completely to a very serene one.

"But it'll be ok, since you're here right?" –her eyes now were reflecting complete trust towards the boy.

"How come you trust so much a stranger? For what you know I could throw you right out of the spaceship if I wanted to"

"You're not a stranger, I know you already, I've dreamed of you before" –she smiled as she said this. Despite all his knowledge, Eriol didn't understand her answer. Just as the confused boy was about to ask her a beautiful wave of colours surrounded the Firearm making the girl release his arm and get all exited about what was outside. They had arrived to the TR, their base.


	5. Going Back

Chapter 5: Going Back

_"What happens when the dream becomes reality and reality is so far away that it seems like a dream?"_

"How come you trust so much a stranger? For what you know I could throw you right out of the spaceship if I wanted to"

"You're not a stranger, I know you already, I've dreamed of you before" –she smiled as she said this. Despite all his knowledge, Eriol didn't understand her answer. Just as the confused boy was about to ask her a beautiful wave of colours surrounded the Firearm making the girl release his arm and get all exited about what was outside. They had arrived to the TR, their base.

The Lancelot had arrived in perfect conditions, but it was not the case for the Firearm, one of the engines was severely damaged and the right side of the panel wasn't working very well. Obviously the explosion had caused some troubles on it.

Just as Syaoran stepped out of his ship Kei and Ayaka began to repair it. They're the team's mechanics as Hyosuke explained. Sakura was holding to her best friend not wanting to let her go and of course telling her off not to do anything as irresponsible as that ever again. Meiling looked at them impatiently, she still wanted to know what happened with the crystal pieces and how come Kaeli had one. Syaoran, Hyosuke and Meiling led them to a living room where Eriol was already waiting for them. The questions began.

"How did you get to that place?" –the leader asked.

"I've told you before" –Kaeli showed her watch once again and put it down on a table –"I found it in my room one night I had a dream of that place, and just tried to experiment with it and landed somewhere by accident, then did it again and again and again and then did the same but backwards to get back home, and then I'd tried some new combinations other nights to see where would it take me until I got to that place, this is the first time someone has come with me"

"And it will be the last one" –a severe voice stated. Sakura almost felt relieved, she still though she had gone nuts a while ago, but Kaeli's eyes widened at that, she turned her head to the boy leaning against a wall with folded arms and eyes closed.

"What are you saying?" –the amethyst eyed girl asked with disbelief.

"What you heard, travelling is not for kids! It's dangerous and you could get hurt or even killed! It is not a game, take them back Syaoran" –was the last thing Eriol said before turning around and walking out of the room, slamming a door seconds later, not without taking Kaeli's watch with him.

Kaeli stood up with anger in her blood, how dare he forbid her something! She took Sakura's arm and started walk out of the room stomping her feet at every step and once out of the building she turned back and yelled at a window –"I'm not a kid! You can't tell me what to do and what not to do and I don't need any of you to travel! I'll do it on my own weather you like it or not!"

The emerald eyed girl was in shock, she didn't know that explosive part of her friend. Syaoran just did as told, he took them to a spaceship, small compared to the Lancelot or the Firearm. The next thing Kaeli knew she was laying on her bed with tears falling from her eyes. Sakura was asleep, once again she didn't notice her friend crying.

The next morning, Kaeli felt so let down that she skipped breakfast, she was laying on a couch in fetal position in a state between awake and asleep. She was still mad, but most of all confused, Sakura didn't seem to remember anything... Her pretty eyes didn't even open when Miss Aikawa asked if she wanted to go to the park with them, she only replied that she had a stomach ache. Sakura, worried after her friend, decided to stay with her.

Was it really a dream? But it felt so real, and the pain she felt inside her was real too. But she had nothing to prove it. There was no pocket watch and there was no crystal moon. Dream or not, right now she hated that blue eyed boy. She had dreamed of him many times before but this was the first time they were both in the dream, if it was a dream...

A dream... it's all it was... thinking about how unreal all was she got to the conclusion that those dreams and the way they involved her in the story were only her way to feel she belonged somewhere. Not having parents is difficult, but the moment she realized that she swore to herself that no one would ever see her pain.

_"I shouldn't make anyone unhappy because of my feelings, my pain is mine, and mine to bear alone"_

The days went by and her excuses were running out, all the pains known had been used as an excuse. There were two new girls at the orphanage, one of them was seven and the other one was three years old. Kaeli slowly started to act as her usual cheerful self, but inside the pain wasn't gone. Faking it was the key. No one would believe how good of an actress this girl was.

It was one day during a drawing period with her little sisters that she got a surprise. One of the new girls, the seven years old one had made a very particular drawing. There was a boy with blue eyes laying on the floor with something in his hand.

"What's this, Yuni?" –Kaeli asked pointing at the boy's hand.

"That's a pocket watch, but it's not his, he took it from someone" –her grey eyes looked directly at Kaeli's lilac ones –"If you want, I can tell you the rest of his story later" –she added with a smile as she stood up and walked to the kitchen where Miss Aikawa and Shirou, her boyfriend, were serving dinner.

* * *

Yuni

-7 years old

-Brown reddish hair, grey eyes

-Enigmatic girl, arrived two days after Kaeli's strange dream, she always has something in mind

* * *

"Ok I'll tell you the story now" –Yuni began, they had waited until everyone was sleeping and were now sitting on the couch with a cup of hot chocolate for each one –"He was born in a far land seventeen years ago, his family served the king, his father was a great knight who had fought side to side with the king, and a year later the kings had a baby girl, so they decided to engage them, they were growing together but when the princess turned four, a curse was placed on the king's family, the king was sealed in a dark room in a deep slumber with a crystal door that was shattered to pieces and spread through many worlds, the queen got killed protecting her child, and the princess disappeared. It is said that when all the crystals were retrieved and the puzzle of the door beaten, the king will be free and the princess will be back. When this boy turned ten, he joined the Crystal Hunters, a selected group trained to find the lost pieces, he has spend his whole life improving his skills and gaining knowledge to be able to solve the puzzle, but there's another group, one trained to fight with the Crystal Hunters and not let them gather the pieces, their leader is Enn, son of the diseased wizard who cursed the royal family. The watch he's holding belonged to the king, but it was supposed to be sealed along with him"

Kaeli was speechless, she didn't know what was real and what wasn't anymore, not that she had known for the past week –"The princess's name is Tomoyo Daidouji, it is said she might be trapped along with the king in the dark room. That's why it is so important to the boy to gather all the pieces"

Almost like reflect, Kaeli's pale hand tried to reach her necklace, but in midway she stopped.

"It won't be there. Have faith and you'll go back" –the younger girl yawned as she started to walk towards her room –"Good night" –she finished leaving an astonished Kaeli behind.


	6. Have Faith

Chapter 6: Have Faith

_"And maybe this is no dream. Maybe this is also reality..."_

Confusion was overwhelming Kaeli's mind. Laying on her bed looking at the ceiling she though of Yuni's lasts words 'Have Faith'.

_"Maybe if I pretend hard enough I might be able to convince myself that it's all real once again... And maybe I could go back to the TR, but, do I want to go back? I mean, Eriol was very rude, I can even tell he was pissed off... But still he had NO RIGHT to take my watch!! He just did as he pleased without asking!! He's just a spoiled kid! I wish I could go back to tell him that!" _

Kaeli's blood began to boil with anger as she thought of how much she hated Eriol in this precise moment. The image of the boy with blue eyes and dark blue hair formed on her mind as she bumped her fists against her pillow with annoyance.

_"I'm gonna show him, that he can't tell me what to do and get my watch back" _–was her last thought before falling asleep.

In the middle of her not-so-peaceful sleep, Kaeli fell to the ground with a loud thud. "Gee, am I stupid enough to fall from the upper bed?" –she whispered to herself and then stood up to get into bed again. But there was no bed. She tried to touch something from the room, but nothing was where it was supposed to be. Darkness wouldn't let her see anything and she just stood there with hands clasped under her chin until her eyes had adjusted to the lack of light. Her pretty eyes couldn't see much, so she started to walk unconfidently at first, but after a couple of steps her head bumped into something. Reaching her hands out she thought it was a wall at first, but then her right hand touched a knob so she realized that it was a door.

The raven haired lass opened the door, a dim light could be seen at the end of the hallway. Still unsure, she tip-toed until she reached another door. The light was coming from inside. She could hear some voices inside but was not able to recognize them or to hear what they were saying. Kaeli leaned closer on the door but accidentally hit some vase that was on a nearby tall-stand and was unable to catch it on time. The ceramic pieces were all over the floor now.

"Who's there?" –a voice called from inside the room and her lilac eyes widened. She heard the door unlock but was unprepared when it suddenly opened and hit her causing her to fall backwards, on top of the broken vase, cutting her skin in more than one place. Kaeli flinched a little when the pain got to her, but surprises weren't over. The one who had opened the door was Eriol.

Obviously he was more shocked than her, his face showed anger for a moment and he was about to call Syaoran when he noticed that her arms and legs, despite the nightgown, were all bruised and bleeding slightly.

Somewhat roughly, he pulled her to her feet, and then she remembered she had no shoes on when she stepped on a broken piece. He didn't say a word, just rolled his eyes and then carried her in a bridal way while calling Syaoran. Her body tensed up a bit when he touched some of the damaged areas.

"What is it Er- - Hey wait a minute, what is she doing here?!" –asked an astonished Syaoran as he noticed the little raven haired girl in his partner's arms.

"How the hell...?" –added Meiling incredulous bumping with her cousin.

"Take care of her wounds" –was Eriol's command to Hyosuke, the medic of the group. And then set her on a table –"Now you, why are you here? Didn't I tell you not to do this? You're just a selfish stubborn kid! You- -" Kaeli didn't let him finish as she slapped him –"FINE! Do as you wish! Just don't come here when you get in troubles!" –Eriol turned around and walk out of the room, avoiding the broken vase with fists clenched and slamming every door behind him.

_"I just can't stand her!! She thinks she could go everywhere she wants and do as she pleases, but she's wrong!" _–were his thoughts, but deep inside, he held another reason: he couldn't stand looking at her, both girls were so similar...

Back in the room, everyone was speechless, no one had ever seen him so pissed and also no one had ever slapped him. The gang could almost see fire in Kaeli's lilac eyes and could sense her anger.

"Ah! I don't know why I even wanted to come back!" –Kaeli expressed punching the table she was on, as Hyosuke covered the cuts with some medical cloth.

"Hey, that's right..." –the brown haired leader remembered –"How come you got here even without the watch?"

Everyone looked at her inquisitively as she simply answered –"I went to sleep and awoke here" –Ayaka and Kei stood there in awe still not believing what they heard, none of them could believe it.

As Kaeli didn't know how to go back, the gang allowed her to stay in the TR. Ayaka helped her to do a sofa, where she would be sleeping for the night.

"I never heard of someone who travelled without an artefact, being it a spaceship or something else..." –the twin girl said as she set a pillow on the couch.

"Uhm... well... I don't know either how it happened" –Kaeli drank the rest of her hot milk and they said their good nights, but in the very last moment Ayaka turned back and added –"Be sure not to bump into Eriol, he's been kinda irritable lately"

Just the mention of his name, made Kaeli want to hit him again, she slowly drifted to dreamland with those thoughts. Fast asleep, Kaeli heard something far away, but was slowly awakened to realize that the noise was actually coming from the kitchen, just to the left of where she was sleeping. Very slowly and still half asleep, she stood up, her white nightgown floated graciously along with her movement. She peeked into the kitchen and just then, a boy turned around and saw her. His face reflected anger once more and leaving the rest of his food, he walked pass her.

"Hey, wait" –Kaeli grabbed his wrist in the last moment

"Leave me alone" –he whispered in a dangerous tone realising from her grasp.

"I'm sorry for slapping you..." –the girl remained silence for a moment and then continued –"Uhm... well not really, but I felt that I had to say that..."

"Ha, at least you're being honest" –Eriol rolled his eyes once again.

"C'mon, I don't want to fight with you Eriol... Besides, you still need my help..." –now Kaeli was using her last resource, and he just let out a sarcastic laugh.

"Yeah, sure! Why would _I_ need _your_ help??"

"Well... I have something you need inside me, and until we discover how to take it out, you won't be able to open the door..."

"Who told you that girl?"

"In case you didn't know I'm usually called Kaeli, not girl. Anyway, you _do_ need he crystal piece, and I'll be useful, I'll do as you say" –nice move, maybe if he though that she would obey what he said... –"C'mon, let me stay, please?"

"No" –oh but he didn't know how stubborn this girl could be, and they'd spend the whole night between 'let me stay's and 'no's but in the very moment that Kaeli was going to give up he said –"Ok, ok! If you want it that much you can stay, but I don't want you to cause any trouble and it'll be only until we find a way to get back that crystal piece, got it?"

"Yes!!! Yes!! Thank you!!" –maybe having her around wasn't so bad, and who knows, maybe they could even be friends.


	7. The Town of Howling Willows

Chapter 7: The Town of Howling Willows

"_And as time passes, you realize that the thin line between reality and dreams becomes blurry"_

Soon there was light again but as Kaeli suspected there was no evident source of light or sun or anything like that so, where did the light came from? The TR was a floating platform surrounded with an invisible shield practically impossible to cross, a changing colourful labyrinth. Only those who had their vessels targeting the TR were able to enter it, as she learned through the night Eriol and herself had spent talking about the base and how it was built.

"So how did you get in here the first time?" –a mischievous smile appeared on Eriol's face before answering.

"We _built_ it from scratch" –he replied truthfully to Kaeli's surprise. Obviously these people had more aces under their sleeves that she had noticed- "Hey kid… uhm… I mean, Kaeli, I've been wondering about something you said the last time… When we were on the ship, something about a dream of us, what did you mean by that?"

"_You're not a stranger, I've dreamed of you before"_

"Oh, _that_ time? Uhm… well, lets say it's like a movie, a videotape, and every night since I remember it's being played while I'm asleep, but sometimes the tape is dirty and the image blurry and then I, well my head ejects it and I wake up but can't remember the whole dream and then…"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Slow down! Breathe and start all over again, and this time, in a comprehensive language, ok?" –apparently Kaeli had said all of that very quickly and without breathing.

"It's like," –she started again, with a somewhat melancholic expression on her pretty face- "every time I sleep, I see another world, a continuing story, in which you've appeared more than once, I don't know why or how, but that's how I feel like I know you, like I can trust you… but there are also some side stories, filled with suffer and misery…" –her expression now seemed somehow darker, almost as if she was suffering deep inside.

Both stood in silence for a couple of minutes, Kaeli replaying the horrible images she'd seen in her dreams and Eriol thinking about her words.

A while later when everybody had woken up and eaten breakfast, Eriol told them that Kaeli was now part of their team and gave her back her watch now with the TR coordinates, along with a wristband-like device they used to communicate with each other. The girl had already seen one, when Meiling found them, Syaoran called her through it.

The next day, Kaeli was about to leave, she accidentally overheard Syaoran asking Eriol why he had let her stay.

"Maybe she's here for a reason… I never heard of anyone who could travel without a device or a spaceship. Deep inside, something tells me that her role in all this is more important that we think" –after that, the blue eyed boy left for his room, but the group's leader went through the door where Kaeli was standing. They stared at each other for a few seconds, and then he left.

She opened her eyes to find herself back in the orphanage, then suddenly an idea hit her: she had spent two days at the TR! She saw Miss Aikawa enter the room wide-eyed throwing her arms around the no-more-missing-girl and squeezing her in a warm hug.

"Where have you been? I was worried to death when I didn't see you and Sakura that morning! Where's Sakura? Isn't she with you?" –Kaeli felt a tug in her heart as she heard that and was about to scream when she saw Yuni standing by the door.

"I'm sure she's fine Miss Aikawa, Kaeli will bring her back, right big sis?" –a mischievous smile as she stated this.

As if hypnotized, the orphanage keeper released Kaeli and left the room with a lost expression.

"Don't waste time. Call them" –she pointed to the other girl's left wrist, where the communicator was hidden under her long sleeved gown. Somehow puzzled she lifted her sleeve only to see a small red light flickering in the screen accompanied by a beeping sound. Kei appeared in the screen as she pushed the answer button, not long after that, Kaeli saw Syaoran pushing the twin out of the way to make himself visible for her.

"We've got a problem, your friend might be in trouble, come back right now" –he hung up right then leaving Kaeli utterly shocked. In less than two minutes she had changed her clothes and was manipulating the watch. She looked back only once to see Yuni with a reassuring smile.

As soon as she arrived, Syaoran, Meiling, Eriol and herself left on the Firearm for the Town of Howling Willows.

The scene reminded Kaeli of a movie she saw once in TV, 'The legend of Sleepy Hollow', but she was too concerned about her friend to be scared. A second later they had landed, Meiling set off to do her job, as she was the explorer of the group. Nothing alive could be seen except for themselves, and the wind seemed to produce some weird sound when brushing against the old buildings, half falling apart. Wait a second… was it really the wind?

"That's why it is called the Town of Howling Willows, the villagers tried to escape from the dreadful ruler by fleeing into the woods, but he placed a curse upon all of those who dared to defy him" –the story seemed somehow familiar to Kaeli as Syaoran explained to her, and there was a particular house she could see through the left window of the Firearm that caught her attention. With both hands pressed against the crystal she hurried her memory to remember something about it, but when she thought she had something, Meiling came back with the space recognizing report. They decided on a plan and got off the spaceship heading for a two stories building just across from the house Kaeli had been watching.

"I sense someone on the second floor" –Eriol said as they entered the old house. Sense? Did he mean 'I think there's someone up there'? or was it literally 'sense'? –"Reveal your secrets" –he commanded apparently to no one in particular with both hands outstretched revealing, to Kaeli's astonishment, a staircase they hadn't seen until then. As they climbed up, doors started slamming and opening up, but not only that, children were coming out of them. Kaeli was holding some kind of weapon Meiling had given to her in her left hand that looked more like a regular boomerang to her.

Suddenly she felt someone grabbing her right hand and when she looked that way she felt her eyes widen in terror. There was a kid holding her hand, but he seemed terribly beaten up with deep cuts on his face and arms and a missing eye. She desperately tried to get rid of his grip, but he wouldn't let her go, quite the contrary, the boy started to pull her arm. Kaeli tried to scream, but her voice had abandoned her, she was unable to say a word as the kid pulled her closer and closer. He bit her arm and was only then she was able to scream, more because of the pain than anything else.

Meiling and Eriol came to her rescue as they were closer, the latter using some kind of magical power Kaeli had never seen to get rid of the boy. She felt to her knees holding her bleeding arm with the spare one close to her body. Meiling ripped the end of her sleeve and wrapped it around the girl's wound.

"We'll get Hyosuke treat you once we get back, now we have to hurry and find your friend, eat this, it will ease the pain" –Eriol handed her what looked like a candy, but she dismissed him with her unharmed hand.

"I'm fine, lets go" –but suddenly felt dizzy and images started to flow through her head. Before anyone could ask what was wrong she had stood up and sprinted out of the house, followed closely by the blue eyed boy.

"She's in there" –she stated pointing to the green and white house across the street –"There's a hallway with mirrors, one of them is false, we have to break it and go through the secret passage, then we'll get to an abandoned factory. Somewhere in there there's a room with a combination locked door" –lost sighted, Kaeli walked all the way to the green house. Eriol, thinking that she was suffering some kind of side effect from the kid's bite like poisoning or something like that, followed her and called Syaoran through the communicator.

The four of them entered the house together, which appeared to be moving as the walls kept squeaking. Kaeli lead them up three sets of stairs, confirming Eriol's suspicion that this was no regular house, as they had seen a one story building from outside, then they took a lift to an upper level. Three of the crystal hunters silent in astonishment as the novice one lead them through corridors and secrets doors as she knew the path by heart. And as she told Eriol a while ago, they reached a hallway that had mirrors instead of walls.

Stretching a hand out Kaeli motioned Syaoran to lend her his backpack, which he did. Then the amethyst eyed girl knocked lightly one mirror, and then another one, and another one until she reached one that sounded hollow, took out a mini-bomb from Syaoran's backpack and placed it on top of that mirror..

"How come she knows where we're going?" –Meiling asked somewhat suspicious, but her question was left unanswered as the mini-bomb exploded in that precise instant.

When they had finally arrive to the factory area, machines started to go on by themselves and Kaeli wasn't sure where the locked door was, but she could bet anything that Sakura was in there, her amethyst-like eyes scanned the area in search for a clue but the floor started to move and three dark hunters revealed themselves. Meiling was fighting with a blond girl just a couple of inches taller than her, Kaeli recalled her as Vyper, the girl who had attacked her back in the pools-like room. Meiling's martial arts and speed where impressive. Syaoran had an adversary too, but instead of kicks and punches he used some golden cards with Chinese inscriptions on them. A very big man was fighting Eriol, who had unleashed a sun shaped rod from a key.

Kaeli took advantage of the distraction and sprinted to an area she felt familiar not without falling a couple of times because of the floor still moving in every direction. At the end of a large hall, she could see the door she was looking for and ran for it without thinking twice, and once there the combination came to her mind. Finally the door opened revealing a scared Sakura who threw her arms around her friend.

"Let me get this straight. You knew the path _and_ the combination because of a dream?" –Kei asked for the umpteenth time.

"Well… yeah, sort of…" –her wounded arm now held a clean white medical cloth.

Sakura was still speechless when they got to the orphanage; she had been thinking that their last trip to spaceland and the pyromaniac man had been a weird dream of her, but hey, weird dreams also come true, don't they?


End file.
